LANSING, Mich., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. is proud to announce it has raised more than $50,000 to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) through a variety of efforts by its employees, exceeding its fundraising goal by $5,000.

Since its inception in 1970, JDRF has provided more than $1.6 billion for diabetes research. Each year, more than 15,000 children are diagnosed with diabetes in the United States- that's 40 children a day. Children with Type 1 diabetes face a lifetime of blood tests, restrictive diets and the constant threat of devastating complications including kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputation, heart attack and stroke. It is these sobering facts, as well as personal experience with diabetes, that motivated Accident Fund's employees to give their all to raising money to benefit JDRF.

Accident Fund employees spent the last 12 weeks working hard to raise money for JDRF using a wide variety of entertaining fundraising tactics. Some of those fundraisers included donating money to wear jeans to work, selling bags of popcorn on Fridays, donating money to wear flip flops to work on one designated Friday, and three employees even set donation goals that, if met, would result in them cutting off all their hair. The final fundraising effort for this campaign takes place on Saturday, Aug. 4 when more than 100 employees, as well as their friends and family members, will participate in the 2012 East Lansing Walk to Cure Diabetes.

"Participating in this particular fundraising campaign has been a lot of fun for our team," Liz Haar, CEO of Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. and chairperson for the JDRF 2012 East Lansing Walk to Cure Diabetes, said. "The activities our employees have participated in have had a direct impact on our fundraising goal while also allowing them to engage with each other in an entertaining way. I am very proud of our employees, as they alone have raised and donated more than $30,000 as well as volunteering to help with fundraising activities."

The walk will take place on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.

To support JDRF or to learn more about JDRF opportunities, visit www.jdrf.org.

About Juvenile Diabetes Research FoundationJDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is now the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF research is to improve the lives of all people affected by T1D by accelerating the progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners who share this goal.

Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.6 billion to diabetes research. Past JDRF efforts have helped to significantly advance the care of people with this disease, and have expanded the critical scientific understanding of T1ED. JDRF will not rest until T1D is fully conquered. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education.

Accident Fund Holdings, Inc.Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. is a workers compensation insurance holding company conducting business through four operating units: Accident Fund Companies, located in Lansing, Michigan; United Heartland, located in New Berlin, Wisconsin; CompWest, located in San Francisco, California; and Third Coast Underwriters, located in Chicago, Illinois. Its insurance company subsidiaries are rated "A-" (Excellent) by A.M. Best. Accident Fund Holdings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. For more information, visit Accident Fund Holdings' website at www.afhi.com.